Teaching Fellows - The Process part I

Teaching Fellows - The Process - Part I

For those interested in becoming a teacher in New York City - it's not that difficult a process. In fact, if they could, they would hire a monkey to do our job. It would cost them less and maybe they might get better results. ("That's New York City for ya... They were tryin' to hire monkeys when I was in school.")

Actually, it was January 2004 when I decided that I would try for the Fellows program. By June I was in my pre-service training. How many humans did I talk to during the course of my application? ONE.

That's right. I applied online. Signed up for the licensing tests online. Corresponded via e-mail. The only thing I didn't do online was my interview. But I did sign up for it online. When you apply, you sign up initially on the Fellows page. Send in your information, reams of paper, several copies of everything... Then, you wait to see whether you make it to the interview segment. If you do, you then sign up for an interview - online of course. It is on this date you will meet your first human in the entire process.

By the way, the interview is not just an interview. It's called an "interview event." They call it an interview event because the damn thing lasts all day.

You have to give a sample lesson - 5 minutes long - but you have to sit through 10 other people's lessons in your interview group plus questions and feedback. Then, you have a problem solving meeting and you are observed during that. That's a chunk of time. Then you have your individual interview, which is a half hour, but you could be waiting for all the other interview people. Luckily, I fibbed slightly and told them I had to drive back to Maine. Which was half true. I was driving back later that day.

They must have liked my interview, because I bamboozled them enough to offer me a position.

SUCKERS!

Or am I the sucker???

When I found out that I had gotten the position with the Fellows program, I had real sense of dread. I really didn't want to leave Maine. I gave my notice to my school. "Please," I said, "keep me in Maine." My school couldn't help me. I wasn't "permanently certified" in Maine, only "conditionally," so most schools can't do nothin' for ya. Not that they can't... they just won't. I applied to a private school in southern Maine and for that ONE English position, they had over 100 applicants.

I kept up hope, but it gets down to the wire and I don't get any jobs that will keep me in Maine. The move back to the Bronx is about to become a reality. I am dreading this move more and more, but I know it is allegedly "for the best."

So June 21 comes... I am down in NYC... Lincoln Center. A 9,000 hour ceremony later, I'm meeting my "cohort" the other suckers who will be teaching in the Bronx for the next few years. Eight intensive weeks later of graduate classes, summer school and fellow advisory classes and according to the City of New York, I'm ready to teach High School!

Oh, did I mention... there's one other catch. You HAVE TO FIND YOUR OWN JOB! Stay tuned for Part II of "The Process."